I believe that is what they call no man's land. If you're looking for hours of reading you can go on archery talk and read the debates on whether it exists
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Recovering bow shot whitetails
- Thread starter John Eberhart
- Start date
Oh it definitely exist, it just happens to be above the spine, not below it.I believe that is what they call no man's land. If you're looking for hours of reading you can go on archery talk and read the debates on whether it exists
Exactly!Oh it definitely exist, it just happens to be above the spine, not below it.
MNFarmHunter
Well-Known Member
I believe that is what they call no man's land. If you're looking for hours of reading you can go on archery talk and read the debates on whether it exists
It definitely exists. I put a ML slug through there at 20 yards and after spinning on the ground for a few seconds, it got up and jogged off.
Never recovered it but my neighbor a mile away saw him later that deer seemingly unaffected by it.
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Going a little off original topic here but I think another myth is that single lung deer always die. I just don't find that to be the case. The 2 hits I dread the most are single lung and shoulder. I think I'm 0% recovery in those cases. I will take a gut shot any day over those because I know I can make the recovery.
hokiehunter373
Well-Known Member
Spot on
I had this happen last year. I had a dog come and track it and they said was definitely 1 lung, we never recovered it after waiting 12 hours to look.
Excellent video...
So many shot choices and shot angles that could be better understood if more people saw that video.
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This is the only picture I have of the entry. He was quartered away slightly and after dragging for a bit the broadhead ended up coming out near the shoulder blade. The only thing I know I got for sure was both lungs as half the arrow was sticking through them when I was gutting him. The arrow stopped on the offside so possible shoulder or from what you’re suggesting maybe even spine.
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This is one of my favorite topics. I love the challenge of a good track. I like watching them fall over more but that isn’t always how it works. Deer are amazing survivors, big bucks in particular. I’ve posted this before but I’ll throw it in here. I shot this buck at 9:30am November 2020. I watched him run off 20 yards and stop. Blood was literally flowing out of him. He then started walking and it got too thick to see. I didn’t watch him drop and it was cool so I said I’ll give him a few hours and come back after lunch. I picked up the trail and tracked a river of blood for 100 yards to a bed. The bed was cool but there was no blood leaving it. I grid searched and picked it up again for another 50 yards and lost it. I grid searched for the next 4 hours and found nothing. I was walking back to last blood and just happened to look down and find blood. I tracked it for probably another 150 yards through open woods and jumped him in a spot of cover in the open. I marked his direction of travel and backed out. Came back the next morning, circled up that direction and found him where he had bedded, tried to walk of and tipped over. I knew the shot was low, I thought I would have caught heart, but he had a 2” hole through only a lobe of the liver.
A lot of variables to account for without opening up the deer and examining the path of the arrow. For instance, you said slightly quartered away but mentioned exit hole up near the shoulder which suggest more angle. Very possible the deer turned away some at the shot. Was the shot from a treestand? How high? Length of the shot? Was the deer up hill or down hill? Head up or down when the shot broke? All of those thing could and likely would influence the path the arrow took through the deer and the resulting internal effects.
This is the only picture I have of the entry. He was quartered away slightly and after dragging for a bit the broadhead ended up coming out near the shoulder blade. The only thing I know I got for sure was both lungs as half the arrow was sticking through them when I was gutting him. The arrow stopped on the offside so possible shoulder or from what you’re suggesting maybe even spine.
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For example, lets use your entry hole for reference, assume shot is taken from a tree 15'+ high and the deer was perfectly broadside and standing 8 steps from the tree. There is a very real chance that shot exits through the stomach, so back lung entry, stomach exit with a chance to maybe catch some liver. Exit has high chance of plugging and the deer may cover some distance and take some time to expire. Move the deer out to 20 yards and turn so the shot is slightly quartered too, 5 or so degrees. Now you have back lung entry and near center punch through the liver on the exit. Result is very likely an easily followed bloodtrail and a dead deer 150 yards or less.
Did the deer duck the string and roll when you shot? The liver rides kinda high in the chest cavity.This is one of my favorite topics. I love the challenge of a good track. I like watching them fall over more but that isn’t always how it works. Deer are amazing survivors, big bucks in particular. I’ve posted this before but I’ll throw it in here. I shot this buck at 9:30am November 2020. I watched him run off 20 yards and stop. Blood was literally flowing out of him. He then started walking and it got too thick to see. I didn’t watch him drop and it was cool so I said I’ll give him a few hours and come back after lunch. I picked up the trail and tracked a river of blood for 100 yards to a bed. The bed was cool but there was no blood leaving it. I grid searched and picked it up again for another 50 yards and lost it. I grid searched for the next 4 hours and found nothing. I was walking back to last blood and just happened to look down and find blood. I tracked it for probably another 150 yards through open woods and jumped him in a spot of cover in the open. I marked his direction of travel and backed out. Came back the next morning, circled up that direction and found him where he had bedded, tried to walk of and tipped over. I knew the shot was low, I thought I would have caught heart, but he had a 2” hole through only a lobe of the liver.
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Shot was from the ground pretty flat at 50 yards. Head up with a mouthful of beans and from what I could tell slightly quartered away. But based on exit might’ve been a little more quartered away. The only organs I noticed that where hit where both lungs, no liver heart or stomach. Broadhead was a 175 grain single bevel. He went straight down on impact the back legs twitched a little and lights where out sub one minute. Just trying to reflect on the scenario and understand what caused this, appreciate all the feedback so far.
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Just my speculation but it sounds like in that specific shot the deer probably started dropping and turning away to increase the angle. That movement could have brought the spine above the heart into the path of the head. The fact the deer dropped on the spot strongly suggest broadhead contact with the spine. Rather than center punching the spine, it may have caught the gap between vertebrae and off the to the side just a bit. That would explain why the head pushed through near the shoulder blade. Heck of a fine shot from 50!! Congrats!!
Nope. Here’s the exit.
It actually fills a good portion of the chest cavity from top to bottom. I caught just a small section of a point of one of the lobes. I suspect he took so long to die because there weren’t a ton of large blood vessels right there.
I'd agree with that. It definitely could have grazed the spinal cord/nerves and taken out both lungs. The lungs/chest cavity come right up to the spine.
If you shoot enough deer you will see all sorts of weird things happen. About 5 years ago my father shot a buck with his slug gun. The deer dropped. He got up and he couldn't see a wound on the chest cavity and was confused. Turns out the bullet deflected off a tree and hit the buck square in the spine on the neck. Not what he planned but it worked.
Should have bolded, italicized and underlined "all sorts of weird things"
Glad you were able to make the recovery. A couple years ago a friend of mine took a shot on a broadside buck. The arrow hit the edge of the humerus bone and deflected back hitting one lung through the diaphragm and out the liver. The deer went a solid 3/4 mile before it died. He shot it in the evening and we left it until the next day when it wasn't laying dead in the first 200 yards. We had decent blood to follow right to it but it was a long way from where he shot it.Nope. Here’s the exit.
It actually fills a good portion of the chest cavity from top to bottom. I caught just a small section of a point of one of the lobes. I suspect he took so long to die because there weren’t a ton of large blood vessels right there.
Our recovery method starts long before the shot. Perhaps starting with equipment choice, practice & stand set-up.
Example, Last fall I opted to experiment with a heavier arrow with a very sharp single bevel broad-head that offered a high FOC. We should not overlook the practice that improved the chance of a humane quick recovery. Lats seasons shot opportunity was set up with a high liklyhood for a 15 yard shot. The stand location was chosen 150 yards from a private property line, that could have made for a more challenging recovery.
Had 6 sits in that stand before the shot opportunity presented itself at 15 yards. As the deer approached the shooting lane the bow was drawn. As the deer walked at a brisk pace into the shooting lane, a rather loud bleat was let out to get him to stop in the shooting lane. As the deer stoped the pin was settled in the vitals and the arrow was released.
While this may not be what the op was aiming for this recovery was near ideal , at least in my book. They all do not go this way, though this kind of results should be the goal. .
In this case after the arrow was released, the deer was closely observed for the next 30 seconds or so as he bound off a few leaps then proceeded to walk a few steps before collapsing for good. The bow was then let down from the tree and the gear hanger & pack was dismantled. I rappelled down the tree removing steps as I went down. When reaching the ground The bow pull up rope was used to pull down the repel rope.Packed up the gear and went directly to the downed deer, perhaps 45 yards from the stand.
The downed deer was near water that I intended to use to transport the deer out on by canoe which I never brought along this day. If I did not use the canoe the deer would have needed to be dragged out for nearly a mile to get back to the vehicle. So the deer was dragged a few yards closer to a water access point & dressed out. The heart & liver were saved.
I hiked back out to the vehicle with the bow and my pack. Traveled back home to get the canoe & returned to retrieve the deer and the remainder of my climbing sticks & platform. Had to drag the canoe a ways to the waters edge. From there the canoe was navigated to a extraction point that was roughly 15 yards from the deer. Once the deer & remaining gear was loaded in the canoe, I paddled back to the vehicle.
Example, Last fall I opted to experiment with a heavier arrow with a very sharp single bevel broad-head that offered a high FOC. We should not overlook the practice that improved the chance of a humane quick recovery. Lats seasons shot opportunity was set up with a high liklyhood for a 15 yard shot. The stand location was chosen 150 yards from a private property line, that could have made for a more challenging recovery.
Had 6 sits in that stand before the shot opportunity presented itself at 15 yards. As the deer approached the shooting lane the bow was drawn. As the deer walked at a brisk pace into the shooting lane, a rather loud bleat was let out to get him to stop in the shooting lane. As the deer stoped the pin was settled in the vitals and the arrow was released.
While this may not be what the op was aiming for this recovery was near ideal , at least in my book. They all do not go this way, though this kind of results should be the goal. .
In this case after the arrow was released, the deer was closely observed for the next 30 seconds or so as he bound off a few leaps then proceeded to walk a few steps before collapsing for good. The bow was then let down from the tree and the gear hanger & pack was dismantled. I rappelled down the tree removing steps as I went down. When reaching the ground The bow pull up rope was used to pull down the repel rope.Packed up the gear and went directly to the downed deer, perhaps 45 yards from the stand.
The downed deer was near water that I intended to use to transport the deer out on by canoe which I never brought along this day. If I did not use the canoe the deer would have needed to be dragged out for nearly a mile to get back to the vehicle. So the deer was dragged a few yards closer to a water access point & dressed out. The heart & liver were saved.
I hiked back out to the vehicle with the bow and my pack. Traveled back home to get the canoe & returned to retrieve the deer and the remainder of my climbing sticks & platform. Had to drag the canoe a ways to the waters edge. From there the canoe was navigated to a extraction point that was roughly 15 yards from the deer. Once the deer & remaining gear was loaded in the canoe, I paddled back to the vehicle.
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